I Half-Chickened Out

 My tools of the trade Saturday.

Visit #1584, Saturday 7 February 26, 9:20-11:05AM, 5.0 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the single digits to low teens, overnight snow accumulating 2-3", ending midday. Cloudy with windchills putting temps around zero degrees.

I had a crazy idea; I was going to walk across Merimere Reservoir, south to north, on the ice.

At the same time, I received an e-mail from Mark, who rides his bike up to Castle Craig once a month year 'round as a celebration of life and longevity. Mark wanted to know the road conditions to the tower.

So after crossing Merimere Reservoir I would walk the road so I could provide him with a report.

Things went off the rails both during and after my hike.

About halfway across the reservoir, my pole hit slush beneath the snow; a good enough warning for me to abort my plan. Since I couldn't see where more solid ice was, I beelined for land.

Just past Echo Point, I found Season of the Missing Glove 2025/26 Entry #14.

Found as you see it, inside the glove was the frequently found in Hubbard Park religious tract. Go figure.

Even at 10AM under these snowy conditions, I wasn't the first one on the road. Another set of foot and pole prints preceded mine.

The very high winds and windchill diminished once in the shelter of the tree lined road.

The last steep pitch to Castle Craig was definitely not rideable by bike, but neither was the rest of the road.

After my hike, and e-mailing the road conditions to Mark, I got suspicious as he lives near enough to Meriden to know the weather wouldn't be conducive to bike riding. I discovered his original e-mail was not from his e-mail account but from a fraudulent e-mail account. Ooops.

(Update: Mark contacted me to confirm the suspect fraudulent e-mail was legitimate. Nothing to see here...) 

I followed the trails down, over the highway, and back to an almost empty Hubbard Park.

While dropping a piece of trash I found into the trash bin, I discovered a pair of snowshoes.

"Debbie" had written her name on both snowshoes. Sad that she abandoned them; I researched on line and found repair parts such as bindings are still available as are repair services. I guess that's just American consumer society.

And just like two weeks ago, it was so cold the water in my bottle froze.

Snow Days

 Visit #1582, Saturday 31 January 26, 12:30-2:35PM, 3.2 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 20s, sunny.

Visit #1583, Sunday 1 February 26, 1:45-3:30PM, 3.5 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the low 20s, sunny with a very cold windchill.

Last Sunday's 15" snowfall made the trails almost impassable  except for the hardiest of individuals.

I headed out on the trails Saturday with my chainsaw to remove the fallen tree I discovered last week.

Even with snowshoes the hike to the tree was a chore, and when I reached the site I had to remove them to maneuver around the tree as I cut.

Which I didn't finish because my chainsaw got stuck in the tree.

I spent the good part of an hour wrangling with the tree to free my saw. I was successful but out of time for the day. I would have to leave the job incomplete until Sunday, where there would be a rematch.

I have to tip my hat to pal Dave. While talking on the phone about his use of a chainsaw, I was inspired to retrofit my saw with the more aggressive cutting chain that he uses for trail maintenance. I can't say it would have prevented my bar from being pinched by the tree but it sure would speed up what work I did, considering the cold and the type of wood this dead tree was made of.

So Sunday I waited for peak temperatures and returned to do battle. This time it was like bringing a gun to a knife fight.

Finished, I had enough time to complete a clockwise loop of the trails and return to the park.

Striking While The Iron Is - Cold?

 

Visit #1580, Saturday 24 January 26, 7:55-9:55AM, 4.2 miles, 10.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the single digits, partly sunny.

Visit #1581, Sunday 25 January 26, 7:00-8:30AM, 2.2 miles, 20.0 lbs. of litter.

Ten degrees when I left the house; 10-15 inches of snow expected, to start about 10AM.

Participating in the Tradition Run last week (I diverted from the road and hiked a trail to Castle Craig), I performed a little trail maintenance and found a newly fallen tree, both on the Blue Trail. I failed to complete the former, so Saturday I planned to return.

I dressed appropriately for the brutal cold and was surprisingly warm. Besides the fact I was moving, I'm sure it didn't hurt that my hands and feet were supplemented by those little warmer pouches.

Crossing over the I-691 walkbridge and hiking up the trail I found this newly fallen tree, and it's a biggie.

My first thought was, I'll return to Hubbard Park on Sunday morning and remove it before it gets buried by the snowstorm predicted to start mid-Sunday morning. This is chainsaw work. But my plans eventually changed.

Hiking up the Blue Trail, I revisited a tree I tried to remove with my new tool. I began to do so during my Tradition Run hike and quite frankly, I was beginning to think a hatchet is not the right tool for trail work.

In the photo above you might be able to barely make out where I was chopping, at the far left of the photo.

Ah, but this week I bought yet another new tool and was eager to try it out and compare it to the hatchet.

Like the hatchet, my requirements were lightweight, packable, and effective. This saw met all three.

So how does it compare?

Strictly for performance, my benchmark is my chainsaw, which on a scale of 1 to 10, is an 11!

The hatchet is 4-5.

This new saw is 6-7. It definitely outperforms the hatchet. It completed felling the fallen tree with ease. This is better than a bow saw, and more compact, too.

This saw is a good back and bicep workout as it cuts on the pull stroke vs. the push stroke.

Giddy with such success, I followed the Blue Trail to the next fallen tree which I discovered while participating in the Tradition Run.

Look at the nice clean cut!

Elsewhere on the trails I counted and removed three more of the endless stream of these recurring stickers.

I hadn't planned on performing this next task because recently, Merimere Reservoir was not frozen enough to cross the ice onto Mine Island. But temps in the past couple days and overnight Friday, as well as the impending snowstorm, inspired me to try and remove the campsite on Mine Island.

Obviously, the ice was thick enough otherwise you wouldn't be reading this!

The hillside of Mine Island is incredibly steep and I had a good leg workout to reach the campsite.

This appeared to be the smaller of the two tents, and based on the contents, was used to store wood for a campfire.

Maybe a clue as to who the campers were?

And some more of that tent's contents.

Fortunately, the campers left the storage bag for the larger tent (more on that later) and I was able to pack up the small tent and all the various other stuff and easily carry it back to the parking lot, where I deposited it into the trash can.

Just how cold was it on Saturday? - I returned home and found my waterbottle was frozen.

The remaining tent was frozen to the ground and removing it was going to be tough in this weather, but it would be even tougher buried under even more snow, or if the ice on Merimere Reservoir melted making it impossible to cross over onto the island. What to do?

Return early Sunday morning before the snowstorm, that's what.

I hiked directly to the reservoir and crossed the ice like Jesus walked on water, but under conditions favoring amateurs.

This tent was 8 x 14 feet as advertised on the storage bag I found Saturday.

This was going to be a "getting your cat into the pet carrier for a trip to the vet" exercise. Countless tent poles were cut and much wrangling and cussing ensued.

There were also two sleeping bags and various empty food containers. While doing this, it started to snow which was earlier than forecasted so I had to hustle before things got ugly.

It took two trips to Mine Island and back to remove everything. The large tent, laden with chunks of ice stuck but good to the material, had to be dragged from the island, across the ice and to its resting place.

I piled everything next to the gate at the south end of the reservoir. When warmer temps prevail and the snow recedes, I'l return and give everything a proper send off.

Crazy Ideas

 

Visit #1578, Saturday 17 January 26, 8:50-10:50AM, 4.2 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Temps in the 30s, light snow with accumulation of a couple inches.

Visit #1579, Sunday 18 January 26, 10:30AM-12:30PM, 5.5 miles, 0.0 lbs. of litter.

Last week I was e-mailed by a park regular. Those pesky stickers which keep appearing, some of which disparage me specifically well, they found one on the iron bench at Castle Craig. They tried picking it off but were unsuccessful due to the cold. In our e-mail exchange when I mentioned using heat, they said "use a hair dryer; there's even an electrical outlet nearby!"

Not being one to do something halfway, I brought my Arnold Schwarzenegger of hair dryers AND an extension cord.

Do NOT even THINK of using this on your hair!

Well, I arrived only to discover that electrical outlet was inside Castle Craig and out of reach. That crazy idea wasn't going to work.

Fortunately, I brought Plan B, a thermos of hot water. Mission accomplished.

While at Castle Craig I also removed some graffiti.

All the other stickers I found on Saturday were easier to remove, even those that called me nasty names.

Saturday was a good day to follow this vandal's illegally built trail and see what else I would find.

And their threats addressed to me continue unabated. It feels good to be recognized. 😉

Don't worry; I removed everything.

This bug had a crazy idea, out in the cold and snow without a hat on.

But hey; my weekend didn't end there.

Sunday was the 56th Tradition Run. Because light snow was forecast to add to Saturday's accumulation, I thought it would be a fun event considering the adverse conditions. I was not alone.

Kudos to the Meriden Parks Department; the event was free but they asked for donations of winter wear and food for the Meriden Soup Kitchen. I hope many ponied up for this free event.

But I had another crazy idea; rather than follow the road up to Castle Craig, I deviated and picked up a trail which paralleled the road.

After finishing at Castle Craig, I followed the Blue Trail down, stopping to use my new tool on a fallen tree. I didn't finish.

Returning to the parks maintenance building/event registration, I received the last patch available.

There's still a whole winter of trail adventure ahead in Hubbard Park. Get crazy and get some!